Inter striker Romelu Lukaku has shared his delight with how people now perceieve him off the back of his stellar form in a Nerazzurri shirt.
The Belgian national team player has been absolutely prolific for the Nerazzurri club scoring 46 goals in 64 appearances across all competitions to date. He has 12 goals in 13 outings this term.
“Sometimes you have to know how to work for the team, with humility, without necessarily reaping the benefits directly, especially when you feel it is not your day,” he explained in an interview with French news outlet France Football.
“I believe that almost everyone now perceives my intelligence in the game and this makes me really happy. Once again, people are realising that when I play I think and try to synchronize with the rest of the team. It’s fantastic.
“Here in Milan everyone understood it, whether it was the fans or the players. I also have to thank my teammates, who were able to identify what kind of player I was.”
Lukaku proceeded to discuss how things different in Italian football 18 months on from his move from Premier League club Manchester United in what was a club record transfer deal for Inter.
“In Italy, winning comes first. There is a big difference in the approach of the matches between here and England. I concentrate on what I have to do because two leagues are not the same. Tactically, in terms of my positioning and my movements, I can’t be wrong. Never.”
The former Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton striker then went on to admit that he would be fine with being named the fifth best striker on the planet at the moment.
“Over the past five months, I am one of the top 5 scorers, yes!. There may be players who have scored more goals even being number five is fine. I don’t want to give the ranking, but I’m one of them.”
In conclusion Lukaku spoke on his role on the pitch and recalled two examples which he feels best show his role on the field of play.
“In my role you have to understand, get information. Many players look at the ball when they accelerate, I push it relatively far in front of him to be able to observe what is happening around me.
“The matches against Brazil and Japan in the last World Cup are a good example of these situations. Against the Brazilians, I saw that Marcelo was backtracking and unbalanced so slipped the ball to Kevin de Bruyne.”
“Against Japan, everything happens without the ball, but it’s the same thing. I have to clear the space for Meunier and slide the ball for Chadli. It all depends on whether or not you are able to understand the game.”